Dancing on Tightropes
by Caelitea
Summary: This girl just does whatever she wants because she can. —Touko/N


**Author's Notes: **This was a self-challenge; I wanted to write something under 1,000 words, since recently some of the things I've written turn out way longer than I'd intended. Not like it's a bad thing, but I wanted to try writing something short. Which didn't really work out because this ended up being 1,357 words…but it was fun to write, regardless. :'D

.

.

.

_Dancing on Tightropes_

_._

_._

_._

She was never quite practical.

And that in itself was an understatement.

.

When she and her friends set out on their pokemon journey she camped out underneath the stars and foraged for berries to fill her stomach despite the kind offers to stay at their houses from young and elderly couples who were used to housing trainers for a night.

Although sometimes she did say yes and let them treat her to a meal that made her smile because it tasted like her mother's cooking, but most of the time it was cold nights underneath the moon and climbing trees for fruit—simply because she could and why the hell not?

.

Every now and then she'll be late for a meeting with Cheren and Bianca—and by late they mean _where-the-hell-are-you-did-you-die-or-something_ late. When she finally does show up she might be soaked in water or covered in leaves or bruised purple, and they'll ask her _what in the world happened to you_?

And maybe she'll reply that she decided to swim across the lake to get here or take a scenic route through some obscure forests that turned out to be full of sewaddles and venipedes, or she tried to go through the caves but she couldn't see a damn thing and kept bumping into woobats and roggenrolas and walls and that was how she got all banged up.

Cheren would sigh and his _what the hell is wrong with you_ would be implied while Bianca would start drying/cleaning/patching her up.

But she would only laugh and apologize for being late and even though they knew her reply like their own heartbeats, they would ask_ why are you always so crazy? _

To which she would reply, _because I can_.

.

She really and honestly doesn't care about Team Plasma but she is always running into them and they keep challenging her so she takes them down because she does _not_ back down from _any_ kind of challenge. Afterwards they scream at her _why are you_ _interfering with our plans?!_ but they run away before she can yell back _why are you always interfering with mine?!_

.

N is maybe a little annoying because he keeps popping up randomly and he spews words like a machinegun, but he's interesting enough so she keeps him around. He says a lot of fancy words though, and she really wants to _not_ pay attention, but he seems happy when she listens so she does because he kind of has a cute smile.

But one day he says _I'm the King of Team Plasma_ and she yells _what the hell, so you're the reason I can't just have a casual journey? _

He stares at her and starts laughing; he tells her that their plans haven't been going properly and she's the reason why but she hasn't even been _trying_. Touko just huffs and says, _well they kept getting in my way; I just want a fulfilling journey_ and leans back in her seat. N says something about being a hero and that she should join her, but she says _I don't want to be a hero _and he tells her she will be, regardless.

He looks a little sad when he says that, though.

.

Things went smoothly for a while; she traveled at her leisure pulling crazy stunts, shoplifting when she ran out of cash, (although she milked the rich kids dry after battles when she could) and switching between five names (White, Hilda, Whitlea, Ludvina, Lotte) to keep rumors from spreading. She took down trainers and Plasma grunts alike—they were all the same to her. She was always getting pulled along to put a stop to their antics anyway and _man_ it was annoying but it was easier to go along with it rather than drag it out by resisting.

She still saw N every now and then too and he would oh-so-casually tell her _you should release your pokemon _and she would always bluntly tell him _no. _And then he would shrug with a strange sort of smile and say _your pokemon seem happy with you _and she would roll her eyes because he pulled this every time.

.

But then N just had to go and awaken Reshiram and make a scene telling her to find Zekrom; suddenly everyone was going _wait that's a bad idea but it's kind of the only idea we have so okay go find the dark stone _and when she did it was time to confront N.

She glared at him, saying _I didn't want my journey to end this way, N. Did you manipulate it because this was how you wanted it to be? _And he only smiled and replied, _you let yourself be led, Touko, because this was how _you _wanted it to be._

And when she beat him and he was down on his knees with the broken pieces of his dream at his feet, he smiled at her once more and whispered, _I told you that you would be a hero, _and now it was her heart that was breaking.

Ghestis was furious and the room was resounding with _you're useless I didn't raise you to be like this I will take care of this girl myself _but she swept him aside like a bug, her eyes on N and her whole body shaking.

Did she break his dream because that was how she wanted it to be, too?

.

Cheren and Alder took them both and she was left in the castle, still trembling. Zekrom was thrumming with electric energy, happy to be finally freed, staring at her while she cried.

When he finally tired of her stupid human tears he roared and she jumped; she stared into his glowing red eyes and he seemed to be demanding, _who are you?_

Moments passed as she contemplated this and when she finally came up with an answer she laughed; she stretched out her limbs and said, _let's go, _and Zekrom knew that his life would not be boring alongside this girl.

.

She breaks N out of jail. She leaves Ghestis there because he's an asshole and he's still got people working for him, anyway.

N is shocked and kind of humbled but he's also nervous because doesn't this make her a criminal too? But Touko only laughs and says she's always been a criminal so he doesn't have to worry his pretty little head, but if it makes him feel better she'll run away with him. And he smiles his cute little smile before asking, _but why did you set me free?_

And she says, _because maybe I like you and maybe you don't deserve being there, and maybe because I'm a hero?_

And he laughs and protests that breaking him out of jail makes her a criminal that she apparently already is, but she grins and says, _but ah, doesn't this make me your hero?_ And he can't quite deny that.

So they escape on Zekrom and Touko phones her friends and they are yelling _where the hell are you N escaped somehow _and she laughs and says she's a criminal and she'll be running away for a while and maybe they'll see her soon.

And Bianca and Cheren can only sigh and Cheren says _you've always been a lunatic, just don't get yourself killed _and she replies _okay and by the way I know you and Bianca are dating you're a jerk for never letting me know _and laughs at him spluttering before hanging up.

N smiles at her laughing face and she grins at him and takes his hand and asks, _so where do you want to go? _and he says _anywhere _so she pats Zekrom on the back and asks him to land them wherever he wants to.

And maybe that wasn't a good decision because Zekrom, like Reshiram, was sealed up in a rock for a bunch of years and they must have been terribly bored; the legendary gives her a mischievous grin before making a sharp turn that nearly throws them off, veering left to some unknown region—but Touko was never practical and she wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
